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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

prick.

A small hole or perforation, caused by piercing.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/pɹɪk/[pʰɹ̠̊ɪk]
  1. A small hole or perforation, caused by piercing.

  2. An indentation or small mark made with a pointed object.

  3. A dot or other diacritical mark used in writing; a point.

    obsolete
  4. A tiny particle; a small amount of something; a jot.

    obsolete
  5. A small pointed object.

  6. The experience or feeling of being pierced or punctured by a small, sharp object.

    I felt a sharp prick as the nurse took a sample of blood.
  7. A feeling of remorse.

  8. The penis.

    slang · vulgar
  9. Someone (especially a male) who is unpleasant, rude or annoying.

    derogatory · slang
  10. A small roll of yarn or tobacco.

    historical
  11. The footprint of a hare.

  12. A point or mark on the dial, noting the hour.

    obsolete
  13. The point on a target at which an archer aims; the mark; the pin.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English prik, prikke, from Old English prica, pricu (“a sharp point, minute mark, spot, dot, small portion, prick”), from Proto-West Germanic *prikō, *priku, from Proto-Germanic *prikô, *prikō (“a prick, point”), of uncertain origin, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *breyǵ- (“to scrape, scratch, rub, prickle, chap”). Cognate with West Frisian prik (“small hole”), West Frisian prikke (“penis”), Dutch prik (“point, small stick", also "penis”), Danish prik (“dot”), Icelandic prik (“dot, small stick”).

verb/pɹɪk/[pʰɹ̠̊ɪk]
  1. To pierce or puncture slightly.

    transitive
    John hardly felt the needle prick his arm when the adept nurse drew blood.
  2. To pierce or puncture slightly. To drive a nail into (a horse's foot), so as to cause lameness.

    transitive
  3. To pierce or puncture slightly. To shoot without killing.

    transitive
  4. To form by piercing or puncturing.

    transitive
    to prick holes in paper
    to prick a pattern for embroidery
  5. To mark or denote by a puncture; to designate by pricking; to choose; to mark.

    obsolete
  6. To mark the surface of (something) with pricks or dots; especially, to trace a ship’s course on (a chart).

    transitive
  7. To run a middle seam through the cloth of a sail.

    obsolete
  8. To fix by the point; to attach or hang by puncturing.

  9. To be punctured; to suffer or feel a sharp pain, as by puncture.

    dated · intransitive
    A sore finger pricks.
  10. To make or become sharp; to erect into a point; to raise, as something pointed; said especially of the ears of an animal, such as a horse or dog; and usually followed by up.

    ambitransitive
    The dog's ears pricked up at the sound of a whistle.
  11. Usually in the form prick out: to plant (seeds or seedlings) in holes made in soil at regular intervals.

  12. To incite, stimulate, goad.

    transitive
  13. To urge one's horse on; to ride quickly.

    archaic · intransitive
  14. To affect with sharp pain; to sting, as with remorse.

  15. To make acidic or pungent.

    transitive
  16. To become sharp or acid; to turn sour, as wine.

    intransitive
  17. To aim at a point or mark.

  18. to dress or adorn; to prink.

    obsolete · usually
Where this word comes from

From Middle English prikken, from Old English prician, priccan (“to prick”), from Proto-Germanic *prikōną, *prikjaną (“to pierce, prick”), of uncertain origin; perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *breyǵ- (“to scrape, scratch, rub, prickle, chap”). Cognate with dialectal English pritch, Dutch prikken (“to prick, sting”), Middle High German pfrecken (“to prick”), Swedish pricka (“to dot, prick”), and possibly to Lithuanian įbrėžti (“to scrape, scratch, carve, inscribe, strike”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.